Family Man
by CompYES
Summary: Mr. Shuester doesn't judge and he doesn't turn anyone away. He just cares about each and every one of his kids, no matter who they are and what baggage they bring with them.


**Family Man**

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Summary: Finn isn't the only one who looks at Mr. Shuester like the father figure they needed in their life. Will as a father figure to the glee club kids.

Spoiler Alert: All episodes game as of now

_Disclaimer: _I don't own Glee.

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My Kids

Episode: 1.07, "Throwdown"

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Quinn knew that compared to people like Finn or Puck, she was really lucky. She had both of her parents, who were wealthy and respected members of the community. They gave her anything she asked for because she was their perfect daughter and they were always proud of her many accomplishments. Not only was she the prettiest, most popular girl in school, she got outstanding grades and was that head cheerleader of the cheerios. And to her peers, she was someone who seemed to be going somewhere in life. Everyone feared and respected and "liked" her at school. Even Coach Sylvester was proud of her, though, she didn't really say it out loud a lot. But she gave her those appraising looks as if Quinn were her own daughter doing her proud.

Unfortunately, all those relationships were tentative and brittle. Her parents were only proud of her as long as she was their perfect _Christian_ daughter. She was only a cheerio as long as Coach Sylvester saw her as a talented athlete, and a useful asset for the team's success. And she was only popular if she was a cheerio and acted the part, cool, attractive, and bitchy to anyone that didn't matter.

That made her wince.

What happened when the web of lies their Queen Bee had gotten caught up in unraveled and they saw her for what she really was? How that night at that party, she had gotten drunk and then had sex with Puck because she was mad at Finn and felt insecure because of Rachel Berry of all people. How weeks later the consequences of that night came back in the form of the baby. How even though Puck had offered to take full responsibility for what happened, she rudely blew him off, and tricked Finn into thinking he was the father instead with that ridiculous story. How she knew that Mrs. Shuester wasn't actually pregnant, and that she was going to give her and Puck's baby to the crazy woman so she could fool Mr. Shue into thinking it was his own.

Quinn Fabray was a bad daughter. Quinn Fabray was a bad Christian. Quinn Fabray was a bad girlfriend. Quinn Fabray was a bad person.

And knowing her pattern, she was going to be a bad mother as well.

When Jacob Israel had posted the story outing her pregnancy, she couldn't help but feel as if her life was over. She'd thought that Rachel's offering to him would keep him satisfied, but she thought wrong. Coach Sylvester would kick her off the cheerios. Her status would drop down to sublevel basement and she'd be labeled the "preggers glee freak." All of her popular friends would abandon her. And eventually, it would spill over into her home life, and it was a matter of time before her parents would know and then subsequently disown her. After crying for what felt for like hours in Finn's arms, she pushed herself away, dried her eyes, and then ordered Finn to go home. He'd been reluctant at first, but she assured him she could drive herself home. She just wanted some time to herself in the school, to remember the last remnants of her popularity, before it all fell down.

While she was wandering the halls, she heard whispers of a quietly held discussion coming from further down. She realized in an instant that it was coming from Coach Sylvester's office. Anger and misery boiled in her stomach when she came to the conclusion that it was probably Coach Sylvester talking to whoever would probably replace her as the head cheerio. As upset as she was at the prospect, she inched a little closer so she could here the conversation. Quinn had been preparing for the moment her pregnancy was out in the open, subtly grooming Santana for the role as head cheerio. She'd be damned if anyone less than Santana received her spot.

At first, she was confused, because it was not Santana or any of the other cheerios Coach Sylvester was speaking to. Instead, it was Mr. Shue. They were calmly, _civilly_ discussing how they were going to move on from what had happened in the auditorium, and how she was stepping down from her position as co-director. Quinn couldn't help feeling relieved at that, because she didn't want to go from Coach Sylvester breathing down her neck at cheerio practice to breathing fire at her during Glee practice. Especially considering how disappointed the woman was with her now in light of her condition.

Just as they were wrapping up, and Quinn decided the get out of there, she heard Mr. Shue speak up one more time.

"Hey Sue?"

"What is it Shuester? I thought we were already done with our," Quinn could picture Coach Sylvester doing quotation marks in the air with her fingers, " 'moment.'"

"It's about Quinn Fabray."

Quinn was suddenly apprehensive. Why did Mr. Shue want to bring her up?

"What about Q?" Her voice was even, betraying no emotion.

"I know I have no right to ask this of you, but could you please let her stay on the cheerios for a while longer? Maybe for as long as she's physically fit for it? The next couple of days are going to be really hard on her, I think she's going to need something familiar to hold onto for now."

All of the tension in the girl's jaw was instantly released and her mouth fell open.

"I'll think about it." Was all Coach Sylvester said in response.

Taking that as a dismissal, Mr. Shue opened the door, and just about collided with Quinn.

"Qu—mmph!" he attempted to get out as he was steadying the both of them before she clapped a hand over his mouth and hissed a "Shhh!" at him.

The two walked in silence for a bit till the reached the choir room. Once the door was closed, Mr. Shue finally broke the silence.

"What was that about Quinn?" he asked, his tone a mix of puzzlement and annoyance.

"I'm really sorry Mr. Shue, I know it was really inappropriate of me to do that, but I didn't want Coach Sylvester to think that I'd been eavesdropping."

Mr. Shue gave her a questioning look, "And were you?"

Quinn grimaced, then nodded.

"Don't worry so much about it Quinn. We weren't talking about anything really important. You shouldn't be so concerned about what Sue thinks."

(It never failed to amaze her that anyone could refer to Coach Sylvester so informally. If it had been her, or any student of McKinley High, they'd get one of the woman's protein shakes thrown in their faces.)

"Is that all?" he asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Nodding again, a bit uncertainly she answered, "Uh, yeah, Mr. Shue."

As he turned to leave, she couldn't help herself from speaking up again.

"Wait, Mr. Shue, I want to ask you something."

He looked back at her, cocking his head slightly, waiting for her to continue.

"Why would you do that for me?"

A small smile formed on his lips.

"Do what?" he asked kindly.

"Standing up for me like that to Coach Sylvester. I deserve to get kicked off the cheerios because of..."

Mr. Shue sighed a little in exasperation. "Why wouldn't I Quinn? You're a good girl. You've worked hard for your grades and for your position on the cheerios. Both Sue and I know that and that's why you're head cheerleader and one of my best students. And you know what?"

"What?" Quinn asked softly, playing with the hem of her uniform's skirt.

"You're one of my kids."

It was so simple a statement, but the full weight of it wasn't lost on her. Her eyes shot up to meet with his, as if doubting the truthfulness of his words. There was no dishonesty, he wasn't saying it as if it was an empty gesture of sympathy for the poor pregnant girl. In his eyes, she saw compassion, tenderness, affection, and respect and for the second time that day, she burst into tears and threw herself into Mr. Shue's arms. She didn't care if it was uncool to hug a teacher, or if her re-applied make up was smearing again. Something about Glee and the people in it made her act funny, feel funny.

But having Mr. Shue hold her like that, whispering comforting things to her, she decided that it wasn't all bad. She felt loved in a way unlike how Finn or Puck or her parents or her "friends" loved her. This was unconditional; this was without judgment, or ulterior motive. Mr. Shue loved her the way he loved Rachel Berry, even though she was pushy, and over-opinionated. How he loved Finn, who was always conflicted between his love for music and football (among other things). He loved the new Gleeks just as much as he loved the original ones. They were all like a huge dysfunctional second family, and she was sure Finn wasn't the only one who saw Mr. Shue as the father figure they all needed, because he really was like their dad, and they were his kids.

And she couldn't help for a second wishing that that was true.

When she finally calmed down and cleaned up her smudged make up, he walked her to her car, her embarrassedly thanking him for taking her to her ultrasound, standing up for her and his kind words. She got in and revved the engine, and while she pulled out of her space, he waved her a sincere goodbye, which she returned shyly. As she drove away, she thought a little more about Glee, and the baby, and Mrs. Shuester's proposal. Even though she hated that Mr. Shue would probably suffer for it, she knew that regardless of the fact that Mrs. Shuester was a grade A crazy and that giving her what she wanted was a seriously bad idea, Mr. Shuester would make a great dad for her little girl.

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Nana: Okay, so I'm not over Glee yet. I probably will be writing a follow up to that Rachel/Puck story I wrote too. I was inspired to write this fic after the part in "Mash Up" during "Bust a Move" where Will playfully cups her face and dances with her. It was cute.


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